U.S. patent number 11,272,328 [Application Number 17/142,269] was granted by the patent office on 2022-03-08 for method and apparatus for changing a talkgroup icon.
This patent grant is currently assigned to MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC.. The grantee listed for this patent is MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC.. Invention is credited to Chong Keat Chua, Kim Koon Neoh, Anoop Sehgal Paras Ram, Chun Meng Tan.
United States Patent |
11,272,328 |
Paras Ram , et al. |
March 8, 2022 |
Method and apparatus for changing a talkgroup icon
Abstract
A method and apparatus for changing a talkgroup icon is provided
herein. During operation a current public-safety incident is
determined. Based on the current public safety incident, a
talkgroup icon will be determined and pushed to the various radios
that are members of the talkgroup. When a radio displays a list of
talkgroups (or a single talkgroup), each talkgroup will be
accompanied by the unique icon that identifies a public-safety
incident related to the talkgroup. This allows a user of the radio
to identify a current conversation on a particular talkgroup
without having to monitor the particular talkgroup.
Inventors: |
Paras Ram; Anoop Sehgal (Ipoh,
MY), Chua; Chong Keat (Ayer Itam, MY), Tan;
Chun Meng (Bayan Lepas, MY), Neoh; Kim Koon
(Bayan Lepas, MY) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC. |
Chicago |
IL |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC.
(Chicago, IL)
|
Family
ID: |
1000005383328 |
Appl.
No.: |
17/142,269 |
Filed: |
January 6, 2021 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W
4/08 (20130101); H04M 3/5116 (20130101); H04W
4/10 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04W
4/10 (20090101); H04M 3/51 (20060101); H04W
4/08 (20090101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Dean; Raymond S
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An apparatus comprising: logic circuitry configured to:
determine a public-safety incident assigned to a first responder;
determine if a predetermined number or percentage of first
responders assigned to a talkgroup are also assigned to the
public-safety incident; determine a talkgroup icon based on the
public-safety incident assigned to the first responder, wherein the
talkgroup icon is also based on if the predetermined number or
percentage of first responders assigned to the talkgroup are also
assigned to the public-safety incident a transmitter configured to
transmit data identifying the talkgroup icon and data identifying a
talkgroup to a radio, causing the radio to display the talkgroup
icon in proximity to text of the talkgroup.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the logic circuitry is also
configured to: determine the talkgroup based on the first responder
being a member of the talkgroup.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the logic circuitry is also
configured to receive a computer-aided dispatch identification
(CADID) assigned to the first responder, and wherein the
public-safety incident assigned to the first responder is
determined from the CADID.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising: a database
containing public-safety incidents and their associated talkgroups;
and wherein the logic circuitry determines the talkgroup by
accessing the database.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising: a natural-language
processor (NLP) configured to output a representation of speech
that is spoken over the talkgroup; and wherein the logic circuitry
additionally determines the talkgroup based on the speech that is
spoken over the talkgroup.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein a database includes a list of
keywords and their associated talkgroup icons, and wherein the
logic circuitry determines the talkgroup icon by accessing the
database.
7. A method comprising the steps of: determining a public-safety
incident assigned to a first responder; determining a predetermined
number or percentage of public-safety officers assigned to a
talkgroup also being assigned to the public-safety incident;
determining a talkgroup icon based on the public-safety incident
assigned to the first responder and also based on the predetermined
number or percentage of public-safety officers assigned to the
talkgroup also being assigned to the incident; transmitting data
identifying the talkgroup icon and data identifying the talkgroup
to a radio, causing the radio to display the talkgroup icon in
proximity to text of the talkgroup.
8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the steps of:
additionally determining the talkgroup based on the first responder
being a member of the talkgroup.
9. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of: receiving
a computer-aided dispatch identification (CADID) assigned to the
first responder, and wherein the public-safety incident assigned to
the first responder is determined from the CADID.
10. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of:
determining speech spoken over the talkgroup; and wherein the
talkgroup icon is also determined based on the speech that is
spoken over the talkgroup.
11. A method comprising the steps of: determining a public-safety
incident assigned to a first responder; determining a predetermined
number or percentage of public-safety officers assigned to a
talkgroup also being assigned to the public-safety incident;
determining a talkgroup icon based on the public-safety incident
assigned to the first responder, and also based on the
predetermined number or percentage of public-safety officers
assigned to the talkgroup also being assigned to the incident;
transmitting data identifying the talkgroup icon and data
identifying the talkgroup to a radio, causing the radio to display
the talkgroup icon in proximity to text of the talkgroup.
12. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of:
receiving a computer-aided dispatch identification (CADID) assigned
to the first responder, and wherein the public-safety incident
assigned to the first responder is determined from the CADID.
13. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of:
determining speech spoken over the talkgroup; and wherein the
talkgroup icon is also determined based on the speech that is
spoken over the talkgroup.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Push-to-talk (PTT) devices are commonly employed by public safety
personnel, air traffic controllers, emergency workers, construction
site workers and others who need to be in constant and readily
available voice communication. PTT, also known as
press-to-transmit, is a method of communicating using half-duplex
communication lines. A PTT button may be pressed to switch a device
from a voice reception mode to a transmit-mode. For example, one
operator may depress the PTT button on her device and speak into
the device's microphone. The speech is converted into an
appropriate format and transmitted to one or more other devices,
where the operators of those other devices hear the first operator
speak through their device's speaker.
In a two-way radio system, each PTT radio typically communicates
with one group of radios (talkgroup) at a time. Even though a radio
may switch between talkgroups, the radio may still only be able to
communicate with a single talkgroup at a time. For example, a
firefighter may be affiliated with or using a firefighter talkgroup
and a police officer may be affiliated with or using a police
talkgroup. Talkgroups outside of those currently listened to by a
radio will not be heard by other radios or consoles. Thus, a radio
speaker will only output audio from a talkgroup associated with the
radio, and the radio's transmission will only be heard by those
communicating on a same talkgroup.
Instead of assigning, for example, a radio channel to one
particular organization (group) at a time, users are instead
assigned to a logical grouping, a "talkgroup". When any user in
that group wishes to converse with another user in the talkgroup, a
vacant radio channel is found automatically by the system and the
conversation takes place on that channel. Many unrelated
conversations can occur on a channel, making use of the otherwise
idle time between conversations. A control channel coordinates all
the activity of the radios in the system. The control channel sends
packets of data to enable one talkgroup to talk together,
regardless of frequency.
As part of a first responder's duties, the first responder may be
assigned to multiple talkgroups which they are allowed receive and
transmit. Since only a limited amount of talkgroups may typically
be monitored at a time, it would be beneficial if a first responder
could somehow know the subject of conversations on the talkgroups
that are not currently being monitored.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying figures where like reference numerals refer to
identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate
views, and which together with the detailed description below are
incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to
further illustrate various embodiments and to explain various
principles and advantages all in accordance with the present
invention.
FIG. 1 illustrates push-to-talk (PTT) radio.
FIG. 2 illustrates push-to-talk (PTT) radio.
FIG. 3 illustrates a server.
FIG. 4 illustrates a server.
FIG. 5 depicts an example communication system that incorporates an
icon server.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an icon server.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing operation of the server of FIG.
5.
FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing operation of the server of FIG.
5.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are
illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily
been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative
positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be
exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve
understanding of various embodiments of the present invention.
Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or
necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not
depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these
various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be
appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or
depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in
the art will understand that such specificity with respect to
sequence is not actually required.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In order to address the above-mentioned need, a method and
apparatus for changing a talkgroup icon is provided herein. During
operation a current public-safety incident is determined. Based on
the current public safety incident, a talkgroup icon will be
determined and pushed to the various radios that are members of the
talkgroup. When a radio displays a list of talkgroups (or a single
talkgroup), each talkgroup will be accompanied by the talkgroup
icon that identifies a public-safety incident related to the
talkgroup. This allows a user of the radio to identify a current
conversation on a particular talkgroup without having to monitor
the particular talkgroup.
The public-safety incident related to the talkgroup may be
determined by monitoring the speech transmitted over the talkgroup,
and determining an appropriate icon based on the speech transmitted
over the talkgroup. Alternatively, a public-safety incident related
to the talkgroup may be determined based on an incident assigned to
at least some members of the talkgroup, as determined, for example,
by a computer-aided dispatch identification (CADID) assigned to at
least some members of the talkgroup.
In one embodiment of the present invention, an audible tone is
output whenever a talkgroup has its icon changed so that a member
of that talkgroup may be notified of the change without having to
continuously look at the talkgroup icons.
Consider the following example: A first responder is a member of
multiple talkgroups, but is currently listening to only one
talkgroup (e.g., a fire ground talkgroup). A bank robbery has just
occurred, and various members of a police talkgroup are assigned to
handle the bank robbery. A computer-aided dispatch (CAD) incident
identifier (ID) is assigned to the various members of the police
talkgroup that are assigned to handle the bank robbery. This ID
could be something as simple as a number, or something as
complicated as an identification that is a function of populated
fields, one of which may comprise an incident type. Based on the
CADID changing for various members of the police talkgroup, each
radio assigned to the police talkgroup will have an icon changed
for that talkgroup to reflect the fact that the conversation over
the police talkgroup will now comprise discussion surrounding the
bank robbery. Anyone looking at the icon will quickly realize that
the conversation on the police talkgroup involves a
particularly-high-level incident that will need police
attention.
It should be noted that since the police officers assigned to the
police talkgroup may be a member of many other talkgroups, it may
not be appropriate to have all talkgroup icons for the other
talkgroups change based on the bank robbery occurring. For example,
a city maintenance talkgroup should not have its talkgroup icon
changed just because several members of the city maintenance
talkgroup are assigned to the bank robbery, since conversations
about the bank robbery will most certainly take place on the police
talkgroup. Therefore, in one embodiment of the present invention,
the change in a CADID for a member of a talkgroup will only cause
the talkgroup icon to change if the current CADID is related to the
talkgroup. For example, a bank robbery will not be related to a
city maintenance talkgroup.
Consider another example of various persons assigned to a city
maintenance talkgroup are currently working on a water-main break
at 123 Main Street. The conversation on the city maintenance
revolves around fixing the water-main break. When this conversation
is detected, the city maintenance talkgroup will have its
associated icon changed to reflect that this work is taking
place.
In another embodiment the talkgroup icon may only update when the
active members within the talkgroup were assigned to handle an
active incident. Consider an example where a plurality of active
talkgroup members in a city maintenance talkgroup are currently
assigned to work on a traffic-light breakdown at 456 Main Street,
and the number of such active talkgroup members assigned to the
traffic-light breakdown task had overcome a certain headcount
threshold for example 70% of the active city maintenance talkgroup
members are assigned to handle such traffic-light breakdown task.
When the conversation on the traffic-light breakdown task is
detected, the city maintenance talkgroup will have its associated
icon changed to reflect that this work is taking place. Therefore,
in this embodiment, the talkgroup icon is only changed once a
predetermined percentage of individuals assigned to the talkgroup
are also assigned to a same task.
FIG. 1 illustrates push-to-talk (PTT) radio 100. As shown, radio
100 comprises PTT button 101, knob 103, display/screen 107, and
speaker/microphone 108. PTT button 101 comprises a standard button,
that when pressed, transitions radio 100 from a listening state, to
a transmit state, transmitting over a specific talkgroup. Display
107 comprises a way of conveying (e.g., displaying) PTT information
to the user. In particular, in an embodiment, a talkgroup may be
displayed to the user as an alpha-numeric output on display 107
along with an icon representing a current subject matter discussed
over the talkgroup. Display 107 may simply comprise a
liquid-crystal display (LCD), or may comprise additional types of
displays (e.g., a light-emitting diode (LED) display). Display 107
may also comprise a touch-screen display that provides both an
output interface and an input interface between the device and a
user. Display 107 may also provide graphics, video, and any
combination thereof.
Speaker/microphone combination 108 comprises a standard speaker for
outputting audio and a standard microphone for receiving audio
(voice). More particularly, speaker 108 converts an electrical
signal generated from an active application to human-audible sound
waves and microphone 108 converts sound waves to electrical signals
for transmission.
Knob 103 serves as a way to control the volume of speaker 108, and
also serves as a means for switching between talkgroups. Knob 103
is approximately a cylindrical object. Knob 103 can alternatively
be implemented as a variety of different objects, including conical
shapes, spherical shapes, dials, cubical shapes, rods, etc., and
may have a variety of different textures on their surfaces,
including bumps, lines, or other grips, or projections or members
extending from the circumferential surface.
The user 201 (shown in FIG. 2) preferably grips or contacts the
circumferential surface of knob 103 and rotates it a desired amount
to scroll through menu items, for example, talkgroups that may be
selected. Once knob 103 is rotated to highlight a particular
talkgroup, conversations over that talkgroup will be output to
speaker 108, and any activation (pushing) of the PTT button 101
will cause radio 100 to communicate over the highlighted
talkgroup.
It should be noted that display 102 may take many forms, and may
display the names of the talkgroups and an associated icon 202,
203, 204 for that talkgroup that indicates a current topic of
conversation over that talkgroup. For example, as shown in FIG. 2,
the Police Talkgroup and the Fire ground talkgroup may be
displayed, so when highlighted, communications to other police
officers or firemen take place upon the pushing of the PTT button
101.
It should also be noted that in FIG. 2, the various talkgroups
displayed have an associated icon 202-204 that identifies a current
subject matter (e.g., a current conversation) being discussed on
that talkgroup. For example, as shown, the main conversation over
fire ground talkgroup is related to an active fire, while the
conversation over the detective talkgroup is currently not related
to any specific incident, and the conversation over the police
talkgroup is related to an active automobile accident.
In order to accomplish the above, an icon server 301 is provided
(shown in FIG. 3). Icon server 301 is operable to determine subject
matter related to a talkgroup, and push an icon to a radio based on
the subject matter related to the talkgroup. An icon is a pictogram
or ideogram displayed on a radio screen in order to help the user
determine a current subject matter of conversation over the
talkgroup. Thus, the icon itself is a quickly comprehensible symbol
of a current subject matter (e.g., a conversation taking place) on
the talkgroup. Their placement on the screen, in proximity to a
particular talkgroup, will indicate a conversation topic being
discussed on the talkgroup identified that is closest to the
icon.
As discussed above, the topic of conversation being discussed on a
talkgroup can be inferred from a task assignment assigned to at
least one officer assigned to the talkgroup (as indicated in a
CADID assigned to the officer). Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, in one
embodiment, an officer and their assignment is provided to server
301, server 301 then outputs instructions for radio 100 to change
an icon based on the CADID assigned to at least one officer
utilizing the talkgroup.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the topic of
conversation over a talkgroup can be inferred from an actual
conversation taking place over the talkgroup. Thus, as shown in
FIG. 4, a transcript of conversation and a talkgroup identification
is input into icon server. Keywords from the transcript are
detected by server 301 to determine a topic of conversation
occurring over the talkgroup. Server 301 then outputs instructions
for radio 100 to change an icon based on the topic of conversation
taking place over the talkgroup.
It should be noted that once an icon has been updated on a radio, a
minimum amount of time needs to pass before the icon may be
changed. This is to ensure that the icons are not changing to
rapidly which may confuse a user of the radio 100.
FIG. 5 illustrates a general operating environment for the present
invention. Environment 500 includes one or more radio access
networks (RANs) 502 (only one shown in FIG. 5), a public-safety
core network 504, radio 510, dispatch center 514, and communication
links 518, 524. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
dispatch center 514 serves as a public-safety dispatch center 514.
Server 301 receives information about various talkgroups and
outputs instructions for radios to change their talkgroup icons as
discussed above.
Database 530 is provided, and stores tables that associates a CADID
to a talkgroup icon and talkgroup, as well as storing keywords and
their associated talkgroup icon. Database 530 also comprises a list
of officers and their assigned talkgroups. This is illustrated in
Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3 below.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 CADID and associated icons for various
talkgroups CADID ICON MAIN TALKGROUP 2012022 (Fire) Flame Fire
Talkgroup 2012034 (Robbery) Head with facemask Police Talkgroup . .
. . . . . . .
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Keyword and associated icon for talkgroup.
Keyword ICON Fire Flame Robbery Head with facemask . . . . . .
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 First responders and their assigned
talkgroups First Responder Assigned Talkgroups Officer Smith Police
Talkgroup, City Maintenance Talkgroup Officer Jones Fire Talkgroup
. . . . . .
Each RAN 502 includes typical RAN elements such as base stations,
base station controllers (BSCs), routers, switches, and the like,
arranged, connected, and programmed to provide wireless service to
user equipment (e.g., radio 510) operated by officers 501-503) in a
manner known to those of skill in the relevant art. RANs may
operate according to an industry standard land mobile radio (LMR)
or cellular protocol such as, for example, the Project 25 (P25)
standard defined by the Association of Public Safety Communications
Officials International (APCO), the TETRA standard defined by the
European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), the Digital
Private Mobile Radio (dPMR) standard also defined by the ETSI, the
Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) standard also defined by the ETSI, the
Long Term Evolution (LTE) (including LTE-Advanced or LTE-Advanced
Pro compliant with, for example, the 3GPP TS 36 specification
series), or the 5G (including a network architecture compliant
with, for example, the 3GPP TS 23 specification series and a new
radio (NR) air interface compliant with the 3GPP TS 38
specification series) standard, among other possibilities, and over
which multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS), single site
point-to-multipoint (SC-PTM) services, or Mission Critical
Push-to-talk (MCPTT) services may be provided, or over which an
open mobile alliance (OMA) push to talk (PTT) over cellular
(OMA-PoC), a voice over IP (VoIP), or a PTT over IP (PoIP)
application may be implemented.
Radio 510 may be any suitable computing and/or communication
devices operable to engage in wireless communication over an air
interface as is known to those in the relevant art. Radio 510
comprises any device capable of communication over a talkgroup.
Mobile radio 510 may implement a direct-mode, conventional, or
trunked land mobile radio (LMR) standard or protocol such as ETSI
Digital Mobile Radio (DMR), a Project 25 (P25) standard defined by
the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials
International (APCO), Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), or other
LMR radio protocols or standards. In other embodiments, the
long-range transmitter may implement a Long Term Evolution (LTE)
(including LTE-Advanced or LTE-Advanced Pro compliant with, for
example, the 3GPP TS 36 specification series) or 5G (including a
new radio (NR) air interface compliant with the 3GPP TS 38
specification series) protocol, among other possibilities, over
which multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS), single site
point-to-multipoint (SC-PTM) services, or Mission Critical
Push-to-talk (MCPTT) services may be provided, or over which an
open mobile alliance (OMA) push to talk (PTT) over cellular
(OMA-PoC), a voice over IP (VoIP), an LTE Direct or LTE Device to
Device, or a PTT over IP (PoIP) application may be implemented.
Direct mode LTE standards may additionally or alternatively be
implemented as well, including but not limited to the LTE Direct
device-to-device standard.
It should be noted that while only a single officer 503 and radio
510 are shown in FIG. 5, one of ordinary skill in the art will
recognize that hundreds of officers and radios may actually exist
in environment 500.
With the above in mind, FIG. 6 sets forth a block diagram that
illustrates device 600 for pushing instructions for a radio to
update a talkgroup icon as described above. In an embodiment, the
device is embodied within dispatch center 514, however in alternate
embodiments the device may be embodied within the public-safety
core network 504, or more computing devices in a cloud compute
cluster (not shown), or some other communication device not
illustrated in FIG. 5, and/or may be a distributed communication
device across two or more entities.
FIG. 6 shows those components (not all necessary) for device 600 to
push talkgroup icon updates to radios as described above. As shown,
device 600 may include a wide-area-network (WAN) transceiver 601
(e.g., a transceiver that utilizes a public-safety
communication-system protocol), Natural Language Processor (NLP)
602, logic circuitry 603 (which may serve as an icon server). In
other implementations, device 600 may include more, fewer, or
different components. Regardless, all components are connected via
common data busses as known in the art.
WAN transceiver 601 may comprise well known long-range transceivers
that utilize any number of network system protocols. (As one of
ordinary skill in the art will recognize, a transceiver comprises
both a transmitter and a receiver for transmitting and receiving
data). For example, WAN transceiver 601 may be configured to
utilize a next-generation cellular communications protocol operated
by a cellular service provider, or any public-safety protocol such
as an APCO 25 network or the FirstNet broadband network. WAN
transceiver 601 receives communications from all members of all
talkgroups, as well as sensor data from all users. It should be
noted that WAN transceiver 601 is shown as part of device 600,
however, WAN transceiver 601 may be located in RAN 502 (e.g., a
base station of RAN 502), with a direct link to device 600.
Natural-Language Processor (NLP) 602 may be a well known circuitry
to analyze, understand, and derive meaning from human language in a
smart and useful way. By utilizing NLP, an automatic summarization
of a conversation over a particular talkgroup is provided to logic
circuitry 603. More specifically, NLP 602 monitors conversations
occurring on at least one talkgroup, and provides a textual summary
of the conversation and talkgroup ID to logic circuitry 603.
Graphical-User Interface (GUI) 531 is provided. More particularly,
GUI 531 provides a man/machine interface for receiving an input
from a user. For example, GUI 531 provides a way for a user (e.g.,
a dispatch operator) to assign a CADID to a user and provide this
information to logic circuitry 603. In order to provide the above
features (and additional features), GUI 506 may comprise any
combination of a touch screen, a computer screen, a keyboard, or
any other interface needed to receive a user input and provide
information to the user.
Database 530 is provided. Database 530 comprises standard memory
(such as RAM, ROM, . . . , etc) and serves to store the information
conveyed in Table 1 and Table 2.
Logic circuitry 603 comprises a digital signal processor (DSP),
general purpose microprocessor, a programmable logic device, or
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and is configured to
function as an icon server. When functioning as an icon server,
logic circuitry 603 is configured to receive a CADID assigned to a
first responder, and access database 530 to determine those
talkgroups that are assigned to the first responder. From this
information, Table 1 may be accessed to determine if the first
responder is a member of any talkgroup that should have its icon
changed based on the CADID. If so, the icon is pushed to all member
radios that belong to the talkgroup. In a similar manner logic
circuitry 603 is also configured to receive a transcript of a
conversation over the talkgroup and access Table 2 to determine if
any keywords are present. If so, an appropriate icon is determined
and is pushed to all member radios that belong to the
talkgroup.
Thus, as shown in FIG. 6, an apparatus is provided that comprises
logic circuitry configured to determine a public-safety incident
assigned to a first responder and determine a talkgroup icon based
on the public-safety incident assigned to the first responder. A
transmitter is provided, and configured to transmit data
identifying the talkgroup icon and data identifying a talkgroup,
causing the radio to display the talkgroup icon in proximity to
text of the talkgroup.
As discussed above, the logic circuitry may also be configured to
determine the talkgroup based on the first responder being a member
of the talkgroup. The logic circuitry may also be configured to
receive a computer-aided dispatch identification (CADID) assigned
to the first responder, and wherein the public-safety incident
assigned to the first responder is determined from the CADID.
As shown in FIG. 6, a database is provided containing public-safety
incidents and their associated talkgroups, and wherein the logic
circuitry may determine the talkgroup by accessing the
database.
A natural-language processor (NLP) is shown in FIG. 6 and
configured to output a representation of speech that is spoken over
the talkgroup. The logic circuitry may additionally determine the
talkgroup based on the speech that is spoken over the talkgroup.
With this in mind, the database may include a list of keywords and
their associated talkgroup icons, and wherein the logic circuitry
determines the talkgroup icon by accessing the database.
As discussed above, the talkgroup icon displayed next to text of
the talkgroup may only be changed if a predetermined number or
percentage of first responders assigned to the talkgroup are also
assigned to the public-safety incident. With this in mind; the
logic circuitry may determine the number or percentage of first
responders assigned to the talkgroup that are also assigned to the
public-safety incident, and wherein the talkgroup icon is also
based on if the predetermined number or percentage of first
responders assigned to the talkgroup are also assigned to the
public-safety incident.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing operation of device 600. The logic
flow begins at step 701 where logic circuitry 603 determines a
public-safety incident assigned to a first responder. As discussed
above, this information may come from GUI 531 from an dispatch
operator inputting this information into logic circuitry 603. At
step 703 logic circuitry determines a talkgroup icon based on the
public-safety incident assigned to the first responder and
instructs transmitter 601 to transmit data identifying the
talkgroup icon and data identifying a talkgroup to a radio (step
705), causing the radio to display the talkgroup icon in proximity
to text of the talkgroup.
As discussed above, the talkgroup icon for a talkgroup is only
changed when the first responder is a member of that talkgroup.
Therefore, logic circuitry is configured to access database 530 to
determine talkgroups assigned to the first responder and then
determine the talkgroup based on the first responder being a member
of the talkgroup.
As discussed above, logic circuitry 603 may receive a
computer-aided dispatch identification (CADID) assigned to the
first responder, and the public-safety incident assigned to the
first responder is determined from the CADID.
As discussed above, NLP 602 may provide speech spoken over the
talkgroup to logic circuitry 603 and the talkgroup icon can also be
determined based on the speech that is spoken over the
talkgroup.
Finally, logic circuitry 603 may access database 530 to determine a
predetermined number or percentage of public-safety officers
assigned to the talkgroup also being assigned to the incident.
Logic circuitry 603 may only change the talkgroup icon if the
predetermined number or percentage of public-safety officers
assigned to the talkgroup also being assigned to the incident.
FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing operation of device 600. The logic
flow begins at step 801 where logic circuitry 603 determines a
public-safety incident assigned to a first responder. At step 803,
logic circuitry 603 also determines a talkgroup icon based on the
public-safety incident assigned to the first responder. A talkgroup
is then determined based on the first responder being a member of
the talkgroup (step 805), and at step 807, transceiver 601
transmits data identifying the talkgroup icon and data identifying
the talkgroup to a radio, causing the radio to display the
talkgroup icon in proximity to text of the talkgroup.
In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments have been
described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates
that various modifications and changes can be made without
departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the
claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be
regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and
all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope
of present teachings.
Those skilled in the art will further recognize that references to
specific implementation embodiments such as "circuitry" may equally
be accomplished via either on general purpose computing apparatus
(e.g., CPU) or specialized processing apparatus (e.g., DSP)
executing software instructions stored in non-transitory
computer-readable memory. It will also be understood that the terms
and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as
is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the
technical field as set forth above except where different specific
meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.
The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s)
that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or
become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical,
required, or essential features or elements of any or all the
claims. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims
including any amendments made during the pendency of this
application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.
Moreover in this document, relational terms such as first and
second, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to
distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action
without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such
relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms
"comprises," "comprising," "has", "having," "includes",
"including," "contains", "containing" or any other variation
thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that
a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has,
includes, contains a list of elements does not include only those
elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or
inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element
proceeded by "comprises . . . a", "has . . . a", "includes . . .
a", "contains . . . a" does not, without more constraints, preclude
the existence of additional identical elements in the process,
method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has, includes,
contains the element. The terms "a" and "an" are defined as one or
more unless explicitly stated otherwise herein. The terms
"substantially", "essentially", "approximately", "about" or any
other version thereof, are defined as being close to as understood
by one of ordinary skill in the art, and in one non-limiting
embodiment the term is defined to be within 10%, in another
embodiment within 5%, in another embodiment within 1% and in
another embodiment within 0.5%. The term "coupled" as used herein
is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly and not
necessarily mechanically. A device or structure that is
"configured" in a certain way is configured in at least that way,
but may also be configured in ways that are not listed.
It will be appreciated that some embodiments may be comprised of
one or more generic or specialized processors (or "processing
devices") such as microprocessors, digital signal processors,
customized processors and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)
and unique stored program instructions (including both software and
firmware) that control the one or more processors to implement, in
conjunction with certain non-processor circuits, some, most, or all
of the functions of the method and/or apparatus described herein.
Alternatively, some or all functions could be implemented by a
state machine that has no stored program instructions, or in one or
more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), in which
each function or some combinations of certain of the functions are
implemented as custom logic. Of course, a combination of the two
approaches could be used.
Moreover, an embodiment can be implemented as a computer-readable
storage medium having computer readable code stored thereon for
programming a computer (e.g., comprising a processor) to perform a
method as described and claimed herein. Examples of such
computer-readable storage mediums include, but are not limited to,
a hard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic
storage device, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a PROM (Programmable Read
Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), an
EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) and a
Flash memory. Further, it is expected that one of ordinary skill,
notwithstanding possibly significant effort and many design choices
motivated by, for example, available time, current technology, and
economic considerations, when guided by the concepts and principles
disclosed herein will be readily capable of generating such
software instructions and programs and ICs with minimal
experimentation.
The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to
quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is
submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to
interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition,
in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various
features are grouped together in various embodiments for the
purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure
is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the
claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly
recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect,
inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single
disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby
incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim
standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.
* * * * *